Winfrid K. Liepe

Apr. 8, 2013

Colo. passed away peacefully on April 5, 2013 surrounded by his family. A private memorial service will be held in the mountains of Colo. Win was born February 7, 1926 in Halle Germany. He arrived in Yankton, South Dakota with his parents in 1939 as a war refugee. 5 years later he joined the war effort and flew as a tail-gunner in a B24 Liberator bomber. He graduated with a master's degree from Harvard University in 1949 and earned a law degree from the University of Chicago in 1952. Win and his young family moved to Oregon in 1955 where he practiced law until receiving an appointment to the judiciary by then governor Tom McCall in 1972. He served as a district court judge for 22 years. In retirement he served several more years as a senior judge in courtrooms throughout the state of Oregon. He loved his country and wrote upon his retirement, "I am immeasurably grateful to the American people for their generosity toward me and my family and for the privilege of serving as a district judge." He is survived by his wife Madeleine, daughters Katherine and Barbara, son Steven, 5 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.